| Crown v. Stevens | |
| Director: | Michael Powell |
| Producer: | Irving Asher |
| Starring: | Beatrix Thomson Patric Knowles Glennis Lorimer |
| Cinematography: | Basil Emmott |
| Editing: | Bert Bates |
| Studio: | Warner Bros. |
| Distributor: | Warner Bros. |
| Runtime: | 66 minutes |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
Crown v. Stevens is a 1936 British crime thriller film directed by Michael Powell. It was made as a quota quickie.[1]
Ex-dancer Doris Stevens kills a moneylender who is pressing her for settlement of her debt and threatening to tell her respectable businessman husband. Chris Jensen, who also owes money, sees her there but does not report her. Later, Jensen finds out the woman is his employer's wife. He later accidentally intervenes when Doris attempts to also murder her dull and stingy husband.[2]
At the time of the film's release, Kinematograph Weekly called it a "Vivid portrayal of a young woman who commits murder and then tries to poison her husband, thereby involving his employee, a witness to the former crime. Plot is entirely suited to those who do not demand that a crime story should justify its existence by reaching too high an artistic level in theme, acting or presentation. Definitely unsuited to the family, the picture may nevertheless find a place in the average programme as a quota thriller";[3] while more recently, TV Guide called it "Occasionally suspenseful," though opined "the plot is soggy and the actors all wet";[4] whereas Dennis Schwartz noted "a very entertaining little melodrama," and concluded "The acting honors go to (Beatrix) Thomson. The stage actress was superb as the quintessential femme fatale, and easily steals this film from her capable co-stars."[5]